Post by Blaque on Jun 15, 2006 6:07:41 GMT -5
Teenagers aren't just younger than grown-ups
Published June 9 2006
There's a reason 14-year-olds can't drink, can't drive, can't vote, can't bet on a horse, can't buy a lottery ticket or tobacco products.
Why? Bluntly put, because the state believes 14-year-olds are too boneheaded to make rational decisions.
The state is right.
Research increasingly shows that the brains of adolescents and teenagers are, to be just as blunt, a mess.
Their brains are undergoing major remodeling - pruning and weeding out the synapses, changes in the neurotransmitters, overhauling the prefrontal cortex.
The upshot is something that parents have known since forever: Juveniles have more trouble focusing, controlling their emotions, and making the right choices. They tend to take more risks, chasing down the next thrill.
They may know the right thing to do in a given situation, but if somebody gives them a drink or a wink or a double-dog dare, they can throw the right thing right out the window.
"Adolescents are not fully developed," says Janice Zeman, associate professor of psychology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
But when a 14-year-old is accused of committing a serious crime, the state can go from finger-wagging nanny to harsh arbiter in a heartbeat.
If it chooses, the state can try a 14-year-old as an adult for felony murder.
On Monday, the commonwealth's attorney in Hampton notified juvenile court officials that she plans to exercise that option. A hearing is set for June 26 to decide the matter.
The boy in question is the older of two accused of stealing a Jeep from a Hampton convenience store parking lot on Saturday. The boys were passengers in back until the driver went inside the store and left the keys in the ignition, police said. The older boy is accused of climbing into the driver's seat, speeding away and quickly losing control on rain-slick streets.
A minute later, the vehicle crashed into a nearby home, striking and killing a 33-year-old woman sitting inside on her couch peaceably watching television.
It was a stupid joyride. A terrible accident. A life snuffed out.
I can't imagine the pain of the husband, or of the two daughters who were playing upstairs when the Jeep plowed into their mother.
If a 25-year-old had committed the crime, I'd say throw the book. Even a 20-year-old. Maybe even 17 or 18.
But this is a 14-year-old facing five years to 40.
He's two years older than my kiddo, and I don't even trust him with the good steak knives - I don't think he's emotionally mature enough to handle razor-sharp objects.
Zeman is an expert in emotion regulation in children and adolescents. Her expertise includes mothering a 14-year-old son.
"I think it's a pretty heinous thing that happened," Zeman says. "But, at the same time, is it the best outcome for this child?"
We don't know this boy's background. It could be littered with anti-social acts. He could be in the fast lane to becoming a big bad boy. Maybe the judge will agree and the adult charges will stick.
But we're learning more about the developing brain of adolescents and teens - how hardwiring leaves them not just ill-prepared to deal with organic and environmental stresses, but compels them to ever riskier behavior.
In some ways, they're at the mercy of nature. Then, when nature has done its job, they're at the mercy of a justice system ready to punish them for not behaving like a rational adult.
It's possible to go too far in this direction, of course. Behavior isn't only about brain patterns. Children can be taught to manage their impulses.
For this, we look to families and environment, says Paul Scott, state director of the Institute for Family Centered Services, "rather than what's wrong with the hypothalamus that they can't provide that control."
The private agency provides in-home counseling for at-risk children and their families in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Florida.
If juveniles can't control their own behavior, Scott says, "we obviously need to provide that control as a family and as a community."
We don't know what kind of direction or oversight the boy's family provided. Maybe it was inadequate. Maybe it wasn't. But for some reason it just didn't take.
Now it's the state's turn.
No one seems to be arguing that this was anything other than a tragic accident. A possibly childish impulse that left an innocent woman dead.
Punish the 14-year-old if he's found guilty? You bet.
But make the punishment fit not just the crime, but the criminal, too.
Published June 9 2006
There's a reason 14-year-olds can't drink, can't drive, can't vote, can't bet on a horse, can't buy a lottery ticket or tobacco products.
Why? Bluntly put, because the state believes 14-year-olds are too boneheaded to make rational decisions.
The state is right.
Research increasingly shows that the brains of adolescents and teenagers are, to be just as blunt, a mess.
Their brains are undergoing major remodeling - pruning and weeding out the synapses, changes in the neurotransmitters, overhauling the prefrontal cortex.
The upshot is something that parents have known since forever: Juveniles have more trouble focusing, controlling their emotions, and making the right choices. They tend to take more risks, chasing down the next thrill.
They may know the right thing to do in a given situation, but if somebody gives them a drink or a wink or a double-dog dare, they can throw the right thing right out the window.
"Adolescents are not fully developed," says Janice Zeman, associate professor of psychology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
But when a 14-year-old is accused of committing a serious crime, the state can go from finger-wagging nanny to harsh arbiter in a heartbeat.
If it chooses, the state can try a 14-year-old as an adult for felony murder.
On Monday, the commonwealth's attorney in Hampton notified juvenile court officials that she plans to exercise that option. A hearing is set for June 26 to decide the matter.
The boy in question is the older of two accused of stealing a Jeep from a Hampton convenience store parking lot on Saturday. The boys were passengers in back until the driver went inside the store and left the keys in the ignition, police said. The older boy is accused of climbing into the driver's seat, speeding away and quickly losing control on rain-slick streets.
A minute later, the vehicle crashed into a nearby home, striking and killing a 33-year-old woman sitting inside on her couch peaceably watching television.
It was a stupid joyride. A terrible accident. A life snuffed out.
I can't imagine the pain of the husband, or of the two daughters who were playing upstairs when the Jeep plowed into their mother.
If a 25-year-old had committed the crime, I'd say throw the book. Even a 20-year-old. Maybe even 17 or 18.
But this is a 14-year-old facing five years to 40.
He's two years older than my kiddo, and I don't even trust him with the good steak knives - I don't think he's emotionally mature enough to handle razor-sharp objects.
Zeman is an expert in emotion regulation in children and adolescents. Her expertise includes mothering a 14-year-old son.
"I think it's a pretty heinous thing that happened," Zeman says. "But, at the same time, is it the best outcome for this child?"
We don't know this boy's background. It could be littered with anti-social acts. He could be in the fast lane to becoming a big bad boy. Maybe the judge will agree and the adult charges will stick.
But we're learning more about the developing brain of adolescents and teens - how hardwiring leaves them not just ill-prepared to deal with organic and environmental stresses, but compels them to ever riskier behavior.
In some ways, they're at the mercy of nature. Then, when nature has done its job, they're at the mercy of a justice system ready to punish them for not behaving like a rational adult.
It's possible to go too far in this direction, of course. Behavior isn't only about brain patterns. Children can be taught to manage their impulses.
For this, we look to families and environment, says Paul Scott, state director of the Institute for Family Centered Services, "rather than what's wrong with the hypothalamus that they can't provide that control."
The private agency provides in-home counseling for at-risk children and their families in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Florida.
If juveniles can't control their own behavior, Scott says, "we obviously need to provide that control as a family and as a community."
We don't know what kind of direction or oversight the boy's family provided. Maybe it was inadequate. Maybe it wasn't. But for some reason it just didn't take.
Now it's the state's turn.
No one seems to be arguing that this was anything other than a tragic accident. A possibly childish impulse that left an innocent woman dead.
Punish the 14-year-old if he's found guilty? You bet.
But make the punishment fit not just the crime, but the criminal, too.